UN Human Rights in YEMEN

Profile

OHCHR established its Country Office in Yemen (Sana’a) in September 2012, at the invitation of the Government, with the signing of the official agreement between OHCHR and the Government of Yemen. In May 2019, OHCHR opened a sub-office in Aden. In accordance with its mandate, as set out in General Assembly resolution 48/141 of 20 December 1993, OHCHR advises and assists the Government on strategies, programmes and measures to promote and protect human rights in Yemen, in compliance with international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

Since the outbreak of the latest conflict in Yemen in 2014, the Country Office has monitored and reported on the human rights situation in Yemen, including on violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. In March 2015, as the conflict expanded with foreign actors involved, OHCHR began its conflict-related civilian casualty recording and verification based on information collected by its human rights field monitors deployed across the country. The Country Office also conducts trial monitoring and visits to detention facilities in its efforts to safeguard fair trial processes and to ensure respect for human rights standards in the administration of justice. Based on this work, OHCHR engages in advocacy and public awareness-raising, as well as quiet diplomacy with the concerned authorities to ensure the promotion and protection of human rights.

The Country Office in Yemen has also engaged closely with humanitarian partners and non-governmental organizations in the Protection Cluster and other fora to ensure that mainstreaming protection concerns in humanitarian action results in aid reaching particularly women, children, and the most vulnerable and at-risk populations across the country, including minorities, migrants, refugees and IDPs.

The Country Office continues to build partnerships with local civil society actors and youth groups to protect and expand civic space through trainings on the promotion and protection of human rights. OHCHR further provides small grants to local NGOs to support their activities in Yemen, including raising awareness of the rights of persons with disabilities.

As mandated by the Human Rights Council, the Country Office provides technical assistance to the Yemeni National Commission of Inquiry to investigate allegations of violations and abuses committed by all parties to the conflict in Yemen to strengthen its capacity to conduct human rights investigation, monitoring and reporting. OHCHR also interacts and collaborates regularly with the Ministry of Human Rights and other relevant Ministries.

UN Human Rights Focus Areas

Last reviewed: May 2021